Begin Again
by nyu012
Summary: Liv and Elliot investigate a case where the victim is Alex's neice, and everyone's lives change. T to be sure... and maybe for adult situations in later chapters. R&R!


It's my first L&O one, set round' season 3? Any season as long as Alex is in it is really okay. Let your imagination run wild… **R&R** puh-lease! (Don't own any SVU stuff… obviously I'm not Dick Wolf… do however own Lauren.)

…

Olivia hated getting paged in the middle of the night. When she and Elliot pulled up to the apartment building, it was around 2 in the morning. Her, Alex, and the guys went out for drinks earlier that night… well yesterday night actually. Her head was throbbing. She took note of the nice neighborhood. At the apartment there was a 24-hour doorman, and the building looked pretty new. They walked the stairs up to the apartment and saw an officer talking to a woman.

"So what do we got?" Olivia asked the uniform after swallowing two aspirin.

"The couple next door heard a disturbance and called the cops. We came in and the vic was crying. Her pants were down and she was beaten pretty badly. And then we called you guys. We found the vic's stepfather screaming at her." He gestured to the right of him when he said the word "her".

The woman was sitting on the bed crying, she looked to be in her forties, with blonde hair and blue eyes.

"So they took him in already?" Elliot looked at Olivia and then back to the officer.

"Yeah, my partner arrested him. The guy smelled strongly of gin… breathalyzer confirmed."

"Thanks." Liv walked over to the woman who was crying. "Hi, my name's Detective Benson… I'm with the Manhattan Special Victims Unit. Want to tell me whats going on?" The woman was mumbling and slurring her words. Olivia smelled traces of alcohol.

"Lauren… Damien… and – and he hurt her. I wanted to –" She choked on a sob.

"Shhh. It's okay." Olivia put a reassuring hand on the woman's shoulder. Damien must be the stepfather. "What's your name ma'am?"

"Conners. Elizabeth Conners." She slurred her S's again.

"Alright. Don't worry, your daughter will be okay." The woman started sobbing again. Olivia whispered reassuring words and then walked over to Elliot.

"What did she say happened?" Elliot jerked his head at Elizabeth.

"She's drunker than Cabot was earlier, El. How's the daughter?"

He rolled his eyes. "Lets go see."

The drive to the hospital consisted of a cycle of Elliot turning on the radio and Olivia turning it off. When they got there, they walked into the ER. The on-call nurse was at the front desk.

"Can I help you?" The nurse at asked dryly.

"Yeah. Detectives Benson and Stabler with Special Victims. We're looking for –"

"Lauren Stevenson?" A tall dark haired doctor asked. When they both nodded, he went on. "Her bruising is pretty extensive, but she'll be alright. Rape kit came back positive for hair and fluids. There is some particularly bad bruising on the inner thighs. This guy did a real number on her. Room 233." He pointed north.

"Thanks Doc." They started walking into the room. They knocked on the door, and when they heard a muffled "Come in" they entered. A 16-year-old girl was sitting in the bed. She had light brown hair and hazel eyes, and her face was red from crying. Olivia couldn't help think she looked like someone she knew, just with darker features.

She wiped her eyes. "You two must be the Detectives." She did a double take on Olivia and smiled faintly. "I'm sure you already know who I am."

Olivia smiled and walked over to the bed. "Hey Lauren. I'm Detective Benson. This is Detective Stabler. I know this is really hard, but we need to ask you a few questions."

She nodded. "Look, Olivia. With all due respect, I don't think you know just how hard this is." A tear rolled down her face. "Damien Conners is my Mother's husband. But I'm sure you already know that too. He's the biggest asshole to ever walk this planet. He's also a drunk who takes advantage of my Mother. He hits her. He screams at her and then drives _her _to drink." She was losing her struggle to hold back the tears. "And sometimes he comes on to me. Usually I can handle myself. God knows my Mother doesn't do anything…" She closed her eyes and let a few more tears fall. "This time I couldn't. He had been drinking a lot… he got the best of me. I won't let him do it again." She hugged herself and looked down before she looked straight into Olivia's eyes. "Please, if my Mother or I press charges he'll kill us."

"Lauren, we have enough evidence to lock your stepfather up for a very long time." Elliot came to stand behind Olivia.

"Please do _not_ use any term with the word "Father" in it to describe him. My father died a long time ago." She looked out the window.

"Excuse me, Detectives?" A nurse walked in. "I just need to do a quick check up… you can come back in 15 if you like."

Olivia nodded. "We'll be right back… okay Lauren?" Lauren didn't say anything. She touched her shoulder and left. She didn't want to think about what that man did to this little girl.

The two detectives walked into the hallway. "Want to grab a cup of coffee in the cafeteria?" Elliot said. Olivia nodded.

"I need more than a cup..." She laughed. "Hey, how do you think she knew my name? I never mentioned it to her." Elliot shrugged. They turned the corner and almost ran into someone. It was Alex

"Al, what are you doing here? Hear about this that quickly? It can wait until morning ya know, I mean… you must be feeling the effects of me drinking you under the table…" Olivia's smiled faded as she looked at her. Alex had been crying. Her hair was up and she was in her pajamas. "Alex… whats wrong?" She gave the woman a hug. Alex cried into her shoulder. She pulled back, but kept her hands on Olivia's shoulders. She looked like someone had just killed her dog.

"Where is she?" she looked all around the hospital hallway.

"Who? Lauren Stevenson? She's in her room, why? Whats wrong?" Olivia tried to catch Alex's gaze

Alex was impatient. "Jesus Liv, she's my niece! What room is she in?"

Olivia thought. Alex was one of her best friends… and she never knew she had a niece. She didn't even know she had a sister.

"233. Al, why didn't you tell me you had a sister?" Olivia attempted to ask but Alex was already half way down the hallway. That explained why the girl knew her name, and why she looked so familiar.

"Oh God." Olivia and Elliot looked at each other. They turned to walk back to the room.

Alex walked into the room. She couldn't believe Liz had let this happen. "Lauren." Alex sighed and felt the weight lift off her shoulders. Lauren looked up.

"Ali!" She smiled. "Hey." Alex walked over to the bed and hugged her niece. She smiled at the nickname, and this was probably the only time she was overjoyed to be called Ali. She was young when Liz got pregnant, and Lauren couldn't say "Alexandra" and Ali was easier to say. Lauren is the only person in the world Alex allowed to call her Ali.

"Sweetie," she lightly touched the deep cut on the girls face. "What happened?"

"You already know." She shifted uncomfortably in the bed and started tearing up again. Alex had tears in her eyes too. "I have to get out of there. I can't take him anymore. It was worse this time." Lauren reached out for Alex.

"I know Laur, I know…" She smoothed her hair down and then wiped the tears from her eyes. "I won't let you go back with him, I promise. We'll figure something out." They sat there embraced for a few minutes.

Lauren finally pulled back. "I met Olivia and Elliot. They seemed really nice. Elliot is gorgeous, Ali." Alex laughed and wiped away a tear.

"He's married and… oh I don't know… 20 some years too old for you? And we already talked about this… no dating until I say so." She kissed Lauren's forehead.

"Which will be never." She smiled again at Alex. There was a knock at the door.

"Hey." Olivia smiled and put a hand on Alex's back. "I thought you looked like someone I knew, Lauren. You two look like Mother and daughter."

"Yeah, that's what my Mother says." Alex looked at Lauren and smiled.

"Sorry to do this, but we really need to talk to Lauren." Elliot said cautiously.

Alex looked at Elliot and was about to speak, but Lauren rolled her eyes and put her game face back on. "I told you, I'm not doing anything about this. Nothing happened."

"Like hell!" Alex whirled around to look at Lauren. "For one thing, even if you didn't want to press charges, the state would do it for you. We've talked enough about the law for even you to know that. And Lauren, he has to pay for what he did to you. He won't get away with it this time. We have solid evidence, and I'm prosecuting this one myself." She looked at Lauren and didn't flinch. They had a great relationship, but both of them were so stubborn.

"Alexandra, _I can't._" She stared Alex down. Her face suddenly softened. "I just want to leave it all behind me. I can move in with Grandma, she lives upstate. They won't come looking for me, trust me." She looked down and shivered.

Alex's expression also softened. Liv had rarely seen her with her guard down... her and this kid must have one hell of a relationship. She used her hand to lift Lauren's chin up. "Baby girl look at me." Lauren's eyes met Alex's. "I promise you that I will not let anything happen to you. You will never have to live with Damien again. Ever. Hell, if I have my way you'll never see him again. We'll get your mom some help, too. Don't worry Lauren." Lauren nodded. Alex smiled at her. "And we both know you wouldn't last a week in Grandma's house with that stubborn attitude of yours. I barely made it out of there, and your worse than me." Lauren hit her lightly on the arm and giggled.

Lauren smiled lightly at her. "I don't want to live with Mom either…" she trailed off.

"Well my apartment has an extra bedroom… and with just me it is kind of lonely." Alex smiled at Lauren.

"Ali, seriously?" Laurens eyes lit up and the two hugged. Olivia laughed inside at the nickname. Ali?

Elliot coughed.

"El, just go down to the station and get a statement from him. I'll be there as soon as I can." Alex spoke but never let Lauren out of her grasp.

Elliot turned to leave. Olivia smiled at Lauren and then Alex and followed him. Once outside the door, Olivia felt a hand on her shoulder. "Hey Liv…" it was Alex.

"Hey Ali." Olivia smiled. Alex cringed and hit her.

"Only Lauren calls me that." She laughed lightly. "I'm sorry I never told you about my sister Liv. It's just… the only reason we're still in contact is because of that girl in there. She's more or less like a daughter to me. I wanted to tell you but…"

Olivia shushed her with a hug. "Hey, get back to your niece. It's alright."

Alex pulled away. "Well I better get back to her."

"Ok I'll talk to you later Al. I'm here for you, you know that right?" Alex nodded.


End file.
